This is a daily chronicle of my trip to Taiwan from 9th to 24th May 2006 with Ronghua and partially Boon Liang. I am trying to blog about all 15 days, so it takes time..sorry.. If you wanna read all that have been posted, pls click on Taiwan Adventure category here, or on the left sidebar.

So back in Taipei, means time for me and ronghua to recharge. By now the full itinerary was more or less settled. First 5 days, then come back Taipei for another 4-5 days, before whacking the southern region. Staying in Taipei for so long has a big advantage, we dun need every morning rush to take long dist bus or train. Don’t need to every night pack bag. And for once, we can have decent breakfast like this, instead of pack n go.

Then also got internet to use, share with the hostel’s 2 cats, one of which likes to sleep between the 2 monitors..

Typhoon Chenchu was in the region, hence Taipei became decidedly cooler, and gloomier. In a way, it was a good weather for sightseeing, provided that it din rain. First stop was Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall 中正纪念堂. This is to commemorate the 1st president of ROC. CKS Memorial Hall consists of the main mausoleum:

The huge square is also the site of a concert hall, a theatre and a main gate.

The concert hall and theatre are both closed when there are no events going on. I tried to find the ticket counter to see if there’s any performance that i can watch, but i guess it’s either not there, or bloody well-hidden.

Just like in Singapore’s twin durians, the concert hall and theatre here are also magnets for young ppl to come here to practise dances while standing in front of the glass doors.

One of the few shots with all of us inside. This was taken by 2 singaporean gals who were trying to take pic and i helped them. It is damn ez to spot Singaporeans, esp after they open their mouths. Within the mausoleum, 2 ceremonial guards from the Navy stand guard over the statue..

CKS was also a man with strong ideas of science and democracy..

Every hour, there would be a change of guard ceremony which is largely overly intricate, serving no other purpose than attracting gawking tourists like us. The bright side is that they are very very well drilled, every action was precisely coordinated..

Walking out from the memorial square, we chanced upon Kuomintang’s party HQ. Makes PAP look damn small i tell u…

Somehow we ended up at 228 Peace Park, which was setup to remember the 228 incident in Taiwan, where hundreds of civilians were killed after a crackdown by govt troops. That place was boring, though it costs about NT30 to get in, so wasn’t a big loss. Only 1 picture here..

Next stop, Martyrs’ Shrine 忠烈寺 which remembers the soldiers who have died for ROC. Every soldier is represented here. Generals get their own busts and tablets, other officers are grouped in a box of 100 names. Normal soldiers i think in box of 200. This place has 4 ceremonial guards, this time from the Air Force.

From left: Air Force guard, standing on platform; minder who adjusts uniform and wipes sweat every 10 mins
In a way, this place is more impressive than CKS Memorial simply for the guard changing. Here the guards march more than 100 metres in slow timing to change guard, and they have better gun-twirling skills. They actually fling their rifles, with bayonets attached..

The brown lines on the floor are actually due to the guard’s marching over the years. I had a hard time taking these pics, due to the sudden influx of jap tourists, mainly old folks.. Pretty ironic that they are here, considering that a large proportion of the troops died fighting the “日本鬼子”

I always find military precision intriguing, more pics..

The Grand Hotel 元山大饭店 was within walking dist and we went to take a look.. totally doesnt look like a hotel..

Half expected the eunuchs to come out and make us kowtow to the empress dowager…

Last stop of the night, Danshui 淡水 to meet Huili and her friends for seafood dinner. Coincidentally, my sec sch jr Lijun was with them… small world. Danshui was pretty beautiful at dusk, one of the few sunsets that i caught on this trip..

Us along the waterfront…

We took the ferry to Fisherman’s Wharf 渔人码头 which supposedly has good seafood. Ended up wasted trip, no good food at reasonable prices and we end up coming back to Danshui. By now, the 3 of us guys have not eaten anything since the youtiao in the morning, in anticipation of a seafood feast. Finally settled for a restaurant where the food was pretty good, especially the prawns!

It was fun to finally meet up with some singaporeans, and huili proved how easy it is to spot Singaporeans overseas. We just came out from the restaurant and she was looking for ppl to help us take a grp photo. So she approached this uncle standing nearby， “Uncle uncle 可以帮我们拍照?” I can still see the man’s incredulous face as he wondered what the hell UNCLE means.. As if this is not enuff, after taking pic, she told him “thank you thank you”. That uncle was telling his fren next to him, “simi si uncle uncle”

Today Danshui, tomorrow the top of the world!